English Dub Review: The Rising of the Shield Hero “Perfect Hidden Justice”

Overview

Filo has recovered but needs to gain experience to replace her lost levels. S’yne returns from the underground arena bearing a tale of a suspiciously familiar new fighter who uses a bow and goes by the alias Perfect Hidden Justice.


Our Take

Picking up from the previous episode which felt like a brief detour of sorts, we finally find out what Itsuki the Bow Hero has been up to, and if it involves Bitch/Malty we know it ain’t good and that’s putting it mildly… We also learn that Itsuki didn’t fair much against the Spirit Tortoise either, and consequently, his own Hero Party is now technically using him as a source of income each time he wins in these Underground Fight Clubs. With the promise that all their money will go to “freeing the slaves” before they secretly plan to eventually throw his ass under a bus in a different way compared to how Malty betrayed the other two Cardinal Heroes.

At the very least, we do get some other character moments here and there outside of Naofumi aside from that such as Filo & Melty needing to upgrade, and some of the other village children wanting to test their fighting skills within the Fight Club at some point which mostly takes us back to Itsuki since Rishia (Kira Buckland) who’s been a standout character throughout most of Season Two is given her moment to shine as she wants to knock some sense into Itsuki since he may be also under the influence of whatever this Curse Weapon is supposed to represent and what that could entail…

Overall, this seems like a decent setup for one hell of a fight that’s pretty damn symbolic for both Rishia and Itsuki if you think about it. Itsuki saved her life long ago and now it’s time for her to repay the favor. Everything she’s been working on upgrading herself on a mental and physical level has been leading up to this moment. Yet I find it quite strange that Every hero has to be a victim of Malty’s bullshit so the story can progress. Especially after they all witnessed her trial firsthand in Season One. What is she trying to accomplish in screwing all of them over? And what happens if she runs out of strong warriors to manipulate? I survived two abusive relationships similar to this that were Amber Heard levels of bad. The only difference is, that I eventually got myself away from those people when their manipulations and demands got too ridiculous and were killing my soul. But hopefully, Rishia finds some way to admonish Itsuki’s stubborn ass and realize who has his best interest, because it certainly isn’t Malty…